Heroes
by Lord Kristine
Summary: Toys do not play: they are played with.


There was once a small town that went by the name Hrdina. In this town, there was a large department store, which sold everything from vacuums to leafblowers. It also sold toys. Rows and rows of colorful, child-friendly toys. In front of the section that housed the action figures was a white table, which was used for the demos. These were the toys that had been taken out of their boxes for the children to play with. The previous set had been the Playmobil dragons, but now, those toys were being quickly packed away, most likely to be sold at a very low price. Their replacements were the Hero Mashers.

Of these prehistoric animals, three stood out in particular. First, there was Ulysses. He was a red velociraptor who seemed to hate everything. Next, there was Tristan, a blue dimorphodon who was quiet and mostly kept to himself. Third was Felicity, a yellow ankylosaurus who seemed to light up the room with her presence. Tristan liked her very much, though he was too shy to tell her so.

On their first day out of the box, the heroes stretched out their legs and yawned, only when they were sure that the store's owner wasn't looking. Testing out their aching joints, they got a better look at their surroundings. On the shelf behind the table, dozens of dinosaurs just like them sat in boxes. Felicity leaned forward with a curious expression.

"Why are they in boxes, do you suppose? Have we been chosen for something special?"

Ulysses snarled bitterly.

"Oh, we're special, all right! We get to suffer at the hands of careless children while our packaged friends go to loving homes. Do you know why we have detachable limbs?"

Felicity shook her head.

"It's so that they can pull us apart!" Ulysses growled, "We're nothing more than a cheap thrill for the children who want to play god."

Felicity shook her head.

"I don't believe you. We are toys, and we will be loved by many children. They will play with us-"

"They will destroy us!" Ulysses barked, "If you had half a brain, you'd jump off of this miserable table and let yourself get stepped on. At least you'd be spared the pain of what comes next."

Tristan wanted to defend Felicity, but he was too shy. In any case, there was no time, for the children soon flooded through the doors as the store opened. Just as Ulysses had predicted, they tore the heroes apart. More horrifying still, they placed their severed limbs on unfamiliar bodies. Tristan shuddered as he became part of a triceratops. It was unnatural, and it felt like a living hell.

That night, when they had put themselves back together, Felicity sat dismally at the corner of the table. Tristan found the courage to approach her. She turned and looked at him with hollow eyes.

"Why do they do this to us, Tristan? I thought a child was supposed to love you for who you are, not what they can make you be."

Tristan put his wing around her.

"Don't be sad, Felicity. You aren't made to be sad. We'll find someone who loves us, eventually."

Felicity wiped away a tear.

"Do you really believe that?"

Tristan wasn't sure that he did. Nevertheless, he nodded.

"Felicity, I promise you that, no matter what, I will not let you go to a bad home. I'll do everything within my power to find you someplace safe. I'll fly you away on my wings, if I have to."

Felicity smiled through her tears.

"Tristan, I'm glad that we aren't in boxes."

"Why?"

"Because if I couldn't move, I would have never met you."

The gentle glow that her words gave him lasted for the next week. Every day, Tristan would do his best to make Felicity look appealing. If the children wanted to buy the ankylosaurs on the shelf, then the store's owner would be forced to sell Felicity as well. Try as he might, however, Tristan was unable to affect the sales. The ankylosaurs, along with the other hero mashers, sat on the shelf, collecting dust. Meanwhile, the other Jurassic World toys sold out very quickly. Even the stegoceratopses seemed to be wanted for some reason. Still, through all of this adversity, Tristan never gave up hope. Felicity was his world, and he would do anything to make her happy.

One night, something went wrong. The wiring in one of the walls had come loose, and the sparks set a nearby curtain ablaze. Tristan watched with wide eyes as the flames licked the walls, spreading faster than he could have imagined. In the chaos that ensued, Ulysses leapt from the table.

"The day of reckoning is upon us! The old ones have heard our prayers! This is our salvation!"

Tristan cried out as Ulysses ran forward into a wall of flames. The flaming raptor stumbled a little further before collapsing.

"Tristan! I'm scared!" Felicity gasped.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

Felicity screamed as the flames spread dangerously close to the table.

"Tristan, fly me away on your wings!"

He looked over the edge of the table. There was no way out. He turned to Felicity with tears in his eyes.

"I can't fly, Felicity. My wings are as heavy as the rest of me. We're done for."

Felicity cried out in agony. Tristan felt the heat rising.

"Before we go, there's something you should know. When they tore us apart, it felt so wrong, but I always hoped they'd put us together. You're not like the others. When we are one, I feel better than before."

Felicity held his paw.

"I feel the same way. We were made for each other, Tristan. Whatever happens, I will not regret living this way, as long as we can be together."

They held each other in a passionate embrace as the flames enveloped them. The heat made their plastic bodies fuse together. In this way, they were never truly apart, even in death.


End file.
